Carbon offset

Our approach
We offset a proportion of our unavoidable CO₂ emissions. This means paying someone else to reduce their emissions by a specified amount. In 2011, we offset 98,482 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to our total emissions from air travel, by supporting renewable energy projects. We reviewed our offset policy in 2011 and appointed a new provider. From 2012 our operating companies will cover the cost of offset equivalent to their annual air travel emission. This will further incentivize our companies to reduce air travel.

How offsetting works
Governments, international institutions and private companies have devised a trading system to enable organizations to pay for emission reductions elsewhere. Using this system, companies can buy carbon credits to offset some of their unavoidable emissions.

For example, a village in India uses kerosene for light and cooking. Villagers would really benefit from electricity but they are miles away from the grid and they can't afford solar panels. A specialist offset agency pays for the panels and creates credits for the amount of CO₂ saved by avoiding the use of kerosene. One credit equals one tonne of CO₂ avoided. The agency then sells the credit which is used to offset emissions.

WPP offset projects
WPP is partnering with leading offset provider South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd to offset our emissions from air travel for the next three years. South Pole has projects in over 20 countries which work to reduce greenhouse gases while benefiting local communities and the environment. WPP is supporting four renewable energy projects in China, Taiwan, Turkey and New Caledonia.

In 2011, South Pole was named Best Project Developer in Environmental Finance’s Voluntary Carbon Market Survey

Details of the case studies can be found here.